it takes a village: the "acknowledgements" section of my doctoral dissertation
NOTE: I am sharing the “acknowledgments” section from my doctoral dissertation to extend thanks to the individuals and organizations who supported me as I spent the past five years pursuing a doctoral degree in cultural anthropology. It still feels surreal to wake up every day as Dr. Anuli Akanegbu. I did it! And, I could not have done it without YOU!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“Bless the workers and beam on me if you please.” – Toni Cade Bambara, The Salt Eaters (1980), Dedication
My paternal grandmother, Elizabeth, was known as “Electric” for her striking personality. I have a gold nameplate necklace that I purchased after her passing in 2010 that bears this nickname. It was my way of keeping some of her light with me as the storm of her death passed through our family. My maternal grandmother, Juliana, was a plantain seller in Nigeria who couldn’t read but who made sure that all of her children could. She died when I was a baby, but I have framed a piece of fabric (cobalt blue emblazoned with orange, yellow, and white stars outlined in black) that she passed on to my mother who then passed on pieces to both me and my sister. Although neither are currently living, the spirits of my grandmothers still walk the Earth. Given the fact that both of my parents, Benedict (or, “Ndubisi,” Elizabeth’s last born) and Lucilla (or, “Chika,” Juliana’s last born) hold doctorates in economics and pharmacy respectively, it would seem unsurprising or at least probable that I would go on to pursue a doctorate of my own. However, this was not the path that I imagined for myself. At least, not until a jury duty stint in 2018 offered me nothing but uninterrupted time away from my corporate job to envision a different path, an alternative life, for myself. Coincidentally or not, my mother called me at the tail-end of my day in the Central Courthouse Building in Brooklyn, New York to tell me that God wanted her to relay a message to me. The message was that I should go back to school. God must’ve been working overtime that day because he had already relayed that same message to me earlier.
I’ve learned to believe in serendipity over the past five years. I’ve also learned to believe in God. I want to begin these acknowledgments by thanking God. My progress is evidence of the power and promises of God’s provision. To paraphrase a line from a poem by my favorite poet Lucille Clifton: I celebrate the fact that so many things have tried to kill me and have failed. The dissertation to follow is meant to showcase what I learned during the course of my doctoral studies. What I have learned in this time is that I have the power to choose how my own story develops even, especially, when the plot thickens. I leave this doctoral program at the threshold of possibility; feeling alive and well. And, aside from God and myself (you did that, sis!) I have a lot of people to thank for that.
I must begin here by thanking the creative and cultural workers in Atlanta who allowed me access to their feelings, perspectives, and work/life experiences. Through my encounters with you, whether informally or formally for this project, I have learned more about the multitude of modes that we can exist in as humans. You taught me that the future is now and that we can create new modes of living, working, and simply being in the present within the spaces we share. On the subject of shared spaces, thank you to the cities of New York, Atlanta and Decatur and the people whose talents have positively impacted my well-being. I personally would not have survived without the relationships that I have formed with those who have tended to my care of self from my nail technicians over the years (Sky, MJ, and Charlene) to my fitness crews at Jazzercise Decatur and Grind2Shine Performance. Special thanks also to the Loveland Foundation for funding my past year of therapy and to Epiphany Church in Brooklyn and Cornerstone Church ATL for nurturing my spiritual growth.
I must also extend my gratitude to the staff at the Atlanta History Center whose archives and resources as well as conversations and lunch dates sustained me mentally and socially when I was a regular at the Kenan Research Center during the summer and autumn of 2022. As I reflect on these places and people, I am heartened to realize that I probably saw and talked to them all more than anyone else in-person over these years. The PhD journey can be isolating. I thank you for your services, yes, but I also thank you for your camaraderie.
This project greatly benefitted from the support of my family and friends. My parents and my sister are my greatest cheerleaders. My mother has had my name listed in her phone as “Dr. A” since I was accepted into the PhD program in February 2019 and I honestly believe that she has direct access to God’s mainline. Whether in-person or via Whatsapp, my father, who primarily lives in Nigeria, has always been a source of counsel for me especially in situations where I’ve been tasked to advocate for myself. He is always quick to remind me: “your best is good enough.” I was an only child for fifteen years before Zikora entered my life. I had the honor of naming my only sibling and I chose an Igbo name that bore a heavy meaning: “show the world the power of God.” My sister lives up to her name and has truly been a blessing in my life. My podcast, “The BLK IRL Podcast” would not have existed without her. I initially gave up on the idea after weeks of back-to-back rejections for startup funding and support, but it was my sister that encouraged me to go the independent path. I owe a debt of gratitude to my friends, especially my text-based group chats: A1Day1’s (Chikodili and Njideka), Mastermind (Chasity and L’Oreal), and R28 (Jasmine and Syreeta). Thank you for the affirmations, the feedback, and the memes. Your messages remain a constant source of joy and connection for me.
To Renee, my forever sister-friend and personal prayer warrior: thank you for your unwavering support and friendship. I’ll cry if I type anything else about you. It is difficult to namecheck all of the friends who have been in my corner over the years, but I would be remiss if I did not shoutout a newer friend, Justice, who provided me with the one thing that most graduate students yearn for but never receive which is the space to brainstorm and ideate freely with a kindred spirit. We have never met in-person (yet) but our weekly Zoom conversations and text messages have transcended beyond the virtual writing group we initially met through in September 2023 and they mean so much to me. To my fellow scholars: you inspire me. Thank you especially to Dr. Brendane Tynes, Lexi Holloway, Alyssa James, Dr. Saudi Garcia, Nadia Mbonde, Ifeanyi Awachie, Shuting Li, Dr. Mary Mbaba, Dr. Parmida Mostafavi, and Dr. Marcel Rosa-Salas for setting examples of what it looks like to carve a distinct path inside (and outside) the world of academia. To Dr. Tiffany Marquise Jones: you have been a mentor, but most importantly, you remain a friend.
While my family and friends have provided me with spiritual and emotional support, this work could not have been completed without the support of the cultural anthropology department at New York University. I benefited greatly from the counsel of my faculty committee members Doctors Arlene Davila, Faye Ginsburg, and Amy Zhang as well as the enduring encouragement of Department Chair, Dr. Bruce Grant, who has played an instrumental role in my PhD journey from the very beginning. I am additionally honored to have Doctors Deborah Willis, Andre Brock, and Elizabeth Chin as dissertation examiners. I am utterly grateful to have this dream team of scholars in my corner.
Next, I want to thank the sources that funded each phase of this project from my preliminary research to my formal ethnographic fieldwork. In addition to the funding support from the Henry M. MacCracken Program at the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS), the GSAS Predoctoral Summer Fellowship, and the Annette B. Weiner Fellowship in Cultural Anthropology, this endeavor would not have been possible without funding from the Wenner Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant. I offer my most sincere thanks to the Wenner Gren Foundation for seeing the potential of this project to advance anthropological knowledge.
As a scholar and as a human being, I am propelled by curiosity and connection. This research project is a product of my keen interest in learning about the very nuanced complexities of Black creative work and Black contemporary life. It has offered me the freedom to explore and share my talents and spiritual gifts with the world in a meaningful way. I am forever grateful for this experience – its joys and its pains.